George Washington University Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences

Dr. Stephen Mitroff's mentorship has reached a larger audience! The Scientist released, "Navigating the Job Market: Career Advice for Graduating College Students." This paper, co-authored by Dr. Vijeth Iyengar, summarizes a decade's worth of career advice given by industry professionals.

Read the full article here:

Navigating the Job Market: Career Advice for Graduating College Students | The Scientist A unique psychology seminar course generated a decade’s worth of career advice for first time job seekers, including the importance of relationship building and flexibility.

Please join us in congratulating Cognitive Neuroscience PhD student, Emma Siritzky, on successfully defending her dissertation, “A big data approach to examining learning for task-relevant and task-irrelevant information in visual search.”

Her committee included: Drs. Steve Mitroff, Dwight Kravitz, Sarah Shomstein, Myeong-Ho Sohn, and Mackenzie Fama. Thanks to Dr. Steve Dopkins for serving as the defense chair.

Congratulations, Emma!

Read all about new research published by cognitive neuroscience first-authored by Dr. Shannon Cahalan (who just earned her PhD) and faculty member Dr. Gabriela Rosenblau!

CCAS Researchers Uncover New Autism Insights | Columbian College of Arts & Sciences | The George Washington University A study led by Cognitive Neuroscience Professor Gabriela Rosenblau presents new understandings of how autistic and non-autistic people learn about each other.

Now that the semester has come to a close, we would like to wish Professor Carol Sigelman congratulations on her retirement from GWU after more than 30 years of service. As a developmental psychologist, Dr. Sigelman taught popular courses in adulthood and aging as well as children's socio-emotion development. She is author of a widely used life-span human development textbook. Throughout her career, she has conducted research on the development of negative perceptions of anyone who is different and on children's intuitive theories of diseases, disorders, and substance use, and parent-child communication about emerging disease threats (e.g., COVID) and long-distance communication in military families separated by deployment. She has served as department chair of Psychological and Brain Sciences as well as important university roles such as the Associate Vice President for Research and Graduate Studies. Dr. Sigelman has been tireless supporter of increasing undergraduates' access to research opportunities. Carol, we wish you well as you embark on this next chapter!!

We are excited to announce recent program alum, Dr. Shannon Cahalan, has just published groundbreaking research in the journal Nature Mental Health!

Her paper, "Modeling how autistic and non-autistic groups learn about their own and each other’s preferences," examines whether autistic and non-autistic adolescents apply different types of social knowledge and learning strategies when inferring the preferences of others. Her work will undoubtedly influence the field of Autism research for years to come!

Publishing in such a reputable journal is a remarkable achievement and a testament to Shannon's dedication, rigor, and the quality of her scientific contributions.

Congratulations, Shannon!

Read the full paper: https://doi.org/10.1038/s44220-026-00650-4Article

Read the GWU article: https://mediarelations.gwu.edu/gw-study-provides-new-insights-how-autistic-and-non-autistic-people-learn-about-one-another.

We are excited to announce PhD Candidate Sarah Malykke has just published groundbreaking research in the journal Attention, Perception, & Psychophysics!

Her paper, "Predicting errors before they occur using trial-by-trial dynamics of pre-error and post-error behavior," tackles the question: can we anticipate mistakes before they happen? This kind of research has far-reaching implications for how we understand human attention, performance monitoring, and behavior.

Publishing in a reputable journal as a PhD Candidate is a remarkable achievement and a testament to Sarah's dedication, rigor, and the quality of her scientific contributions.

Congratulations, Sarah!

Read the full paper: https://doi.org/10.3758/s13414-026-03281-0

Congratulations to our newest Cognitive Neuroscience PhDs: Dr. Rebeka Almasi, Dr. Shannon Cahalan, and Dr. Sanika Paranjape!

We are so proud of our graduates. Your accomplishments left an impact on your peers and your field. We will be cheering you on as you progress through your next chapter!

Congratulations to our 10 newest PhDs who were honored at the CCAS Doctoral Hooding Ceremony on March 14, 2006.

-- Cognitive Neuroscience: Dr. Rebeka Almasi, Dr. Shannon Cahalan, & Dr. Sanika Paranjape
-- Applied Social Psychology: Dr. Arianne Malekzadeh
-- Clinical Psychology: Dr. Maya Cook Alford, Dr. SJ Job, Dr. Seon (Eric) Lee, Dr. Blakely Murphy, Dr. Ash Reed, & Dr. Alana Rule

You are all amazing and have very bright futures ahead. You make us proud!!